AuctionBytes-Update Number 3 - December 5, 1999

ABOUT AUCTIONBYTES-UPDATE
AuctionBytes-Update is a free newsletter for online auction buyers and sellers. AuctionBytes-Update will show you how to make money and is useful to anyone who uses online auctions -- business people, collectors and hobbyists. AuctionBytes-Update is published by email twice a month.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
1) FROM THE EDITOR
2) QUESTION FROM A READER
3) FOUND IN THE ATTIC
4) AUCTIONBYTES.COM QUESTION OF THE WEEK
5) FEATURE ARTICLE: AUCTION SOFTWARE - GET HELP POSTING YOUR AUCTIONS
6) AUCTION TEMPLATES AVAILABLE ON AUCTIONBYTES.COM
7) COLLECTOR'S CORNER
8) ARTICLE: REVISING YOUR AUCTION DESCRIPTION
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1) FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Readers,
AuctionBytes.com is now free! Based on feedback we received, we have decided to combine the AuctionBytes.com print newsletter and this email newsletter and make it free! We gave away lots of copies of the newsletter at the Northeast Collectibles Extravaganza on Nov. 20-21. (Gary Sohmers and Marvin Getman did an excellent job organizing the show.) Many people signed up for the email newsletter (thank you!!) and checked out our Web site, and the feedback we got was very positive - we know we're on the right track.

If you would like help with posting and organizing your auctions, read on. Win Bent reviewed five auction software programs (2 paid and 4 free). His review and recommendations are included below ("Auction Software: Get Help Posting Your Auctions"). Also in this issue, David tells you how you can add to your auction description even after the bidding has begun!

The "Question of the Week" on the AuctionBytes.com home page is very popular, and we've published the results here and on our home page. Every Wednesday, we post the weekly results and add a new question. Be sure and email us with suggestions for new questions, and please remember to vote!

A brand new feature on the Web site is the message board now included in each area of Collector's Corner. We are adding new sections as people express an interest - tell all the Sci Fi/Star Trek and Beatles fans in your life that we'll soon have message boards for them! Anything goes in these forums - got a question, want to post an announcement, inform others of your unique auction? Try the Collector's Corner Message Boards!

These message boards are different from eBay chat forums. You can use "threads" so if you aren't interested in a particular topic, you can skip over it. And we'll leave messages on the boards for a lot longer. On eBay, my messages scroll off so quickly that the person who knows the answer might never see my question. And many times I come in too late on an eBay forum - folks have moved on to some other topic. Give our boards a try - we think you'll find them a nice companion to the eBay forums.

Finally, a special note to appraisers: email us if you are interested in participating in our upcoming online appraisal service. Email dsteiner@auctionbytes.com.

-Ina Steiner, Editor
ina@auctionbytes.com

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2) QUESTION FROM A READER
Tony asked us if there is a way to bring up all the "going going gone" auctions on eBay. He wants to be able to view all auctions that are ending within the hour.

I'll ask my contact at eBay, but in the meantime, email ina@auctionbytes.com if you have any suggestions and I'll pass the tips along to Tony. Thanks!

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3) FOUND IN THE ATTIC
Time for another eclectic selection of items found on eBay. These are treasures that may be collecting cobwebs in the dark recesses of your home. This might give you a reason to do some Spring cleaning in December! (Results are from an eBay search conducted on 12/4/99.)

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Boy Scout Knife
105 lots
Highest Price: $154.50
Lowest Price: $2
Average Price: $28.71
Sell through: 86%
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Duck Call
264 lots
Highest Price: $1420
Lowest Price: $2
Average Price: $54.95
Sell through: 89%
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Disney Snow Globe
143 lots
Highest Price: $177.50
Lowest Price: $1.99
Average Price: $37.13
Sell through: 85%
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Star Wars Puzzle
135 lots
Highest Price: $26.50
Lowest Price: $0.50
Average Price: $7.99
Sell through: 50%
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Bennington Pottery
79 lots
Highest Price: $98.50
Lowest Price: $5
Average Price: $18.99
Sell through: 63%
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4) AUCTIONBYTES.COM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

>>>Online auction sites have different ways of setting end times to your auction. Some sites allow you to set the end time independent of when you post the auction. Is this feature important to you?<<<

VOTE NOW!! http://www.auctionbytes.com

PAST QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK WITH RESULTS

>>> What is the best day of the week to end an auction?<<< (11/17/99)
The votes are in! SUNDAY has been selected the best day of the week to end an auction with 41% of the vote! Saturday was a distant second with 18% and Monday was chosen third with 15%. Looks like the middle of the week might be a good time to POST 10-day auctions that end on the weekend!

>>> Is it acceptable to email your auction to people who have bid on similar items?<<< (11/24/99)
59% of the people who voted felt that it was acceptable.
32% said no, it was not acceptable.
9% were not sure.

-- "Unless the previous bidder has ask to be emailed, the auction email is spam."

-- "I have always sent a few emails out to 'wake up' some previous similar bidders. It works great! On the other hand, it has happened to me before. I was informed of an auction that had a similar item. I was discouraged when I had lost the first one and I did not even look in that category again. I was very happy that person sent me an email."

-- "I wouldn't do this if the auction forbade it, but I don't think it is spamming when I approach someone with something I know they've shown interest in."

You can vote on this week's Question of the Week by going to our Web site at http://www.auctionbytes.com - voting is right on the home page. Each week we'll offer a new question to vote on, and we'll share the results of the vote on the home page and in the next issue of AuctionBytes-Update.
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NM Express is a monthly subscription newsletter for McCoy Pottery collectors. Visit http://members.aol.com/nmxpress for subscription information.
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5) FEATURE ARTICLE: AUCTION SOFTWARE: GET HELP POSTING YOUR AUCTIONS
by Win Bent

Do you find it hard to create auctions? Are you envious of sellers with fancy fonts, beautiful tables, animated graphics, and pretty backgrounds? Do you struggle with HTML? Heck, do you struggle with spelling "HTML"? Perhaps what you need is some help, maybe a little, maybe a lot. Fortunately, there are many software packages available to help you! This review won't cover them all, but if nothing else, it'll show you what you can expect to find out there.

All of these programs can be downloaded via the Web - no surprise there! Some run on your machine, and some are Web-based (so you're using their machine, a subtle distinction). Some are free, some have 30-day trials, and some are "regular" purchases; as you'll see, price usually has more to do with how many features are offered than with quality!

WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?
Here's how auction software programs can help you. If you've got an image of your item (from your scanner or digital camera), and you've got a description all written out, these auction software programs will help you turn those pieces into a fully-constructed auction. For example, using AuctionPoster98 (I'll call it "AP"), here's what you do:

- Choose a Theme.
There are several themes to choose from, with different layouts, fonts, and
decorative images.

- Enter your info into the program.
Click on the "Description" tab. There are separate text-boxes for Headline, Description, Reserve, Payment, Shipping, and other standard parts of a description. Each of these parts gets a different HTML treatment, according to which of several Themes you've chosen.

- Add your image.
Some programs assume you've already put the images on a Web site; AP and others let you select an image on your computer, and they'll upload it to the Web site of your choosing. AP's "Preview" window lets you see how the text and images will look before sending the info to eBay.

- Fill in the listing form.
With programs such as AP, you can save a default set of information to be used on eBay's "Sell Your Item" form, such as your location, forms of payment accepted, and who pays shipping. Depending on the program, you may also be able to specify a default Category to put your items in; AP has you select the category for each item.

- List your item.
To me, this is the big difference between fancy and plain packages: How much work does the software do, and how much do you do? Most of the software reviewed here takes you directly to eBay's form, with some or most of the fields filled in. At the very least, the software will put the HTML for your text, images, and layout into the "Description" field. This step is also where several packages upload the necessary images to your Web site. AP uses the information you provided to fill in eBay's entire form; all you have to do is check the results (always a good idea!), and click
"Submit my listing!"

THE PROGRAMS

AUCTIONASSISTANT ( http://www.blackthornesw.com/bthome) $59.95, 90-day free "Beta" available (their term, not mine)

A full-featured product to assist you with every step of selling: describing and pricing the item, handling images, posting the item, tracking it before it closes, contacting the buyer after the auction's over, and even generating mail and feedback! There are more features than I can mention here; I encourage you to visit their Web site.

I found a few minor aspects that surprised or disappointed me. For example, to select a category for an item, they take you to eBay's list of all categories, which seems awkward to me. However, this product is quite well done overall. Due to the large number of features and the many parts to an auction (from creating to posting to tracking to finishing), this is a complicated program, but the time it takes to learn is well worth it.

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AUCTIONPOSTER98 (http://www.auctionposter.com) Flexible pricing - see explanation below or go to http://www.auctionposter.com/Purchase ) (A posting pass ranges from $6.95 for a 1-month pass to $29.95 for a 1-year pass (no images); tokens are 7 cents - 15 cents each.)

This company has taken an interesting approach to pricing their software: the program is free, but you purchase a "posting pass" to list auctions and "tokens" to use features such as image hosting. It comes with a 1-week pass and 20 tokens, which are enough to get a feel for what it can do.

And what it can do is quite nice! I found it very easy to set up the various sections of an item (description, price, shipping info, etc), and the program was quite good at letting you know what you need to do now and what can be done later.

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MYITEM (http://www.myitem.com)
Free

This Web site offers image hosting and auction-listing help, but I have to say that I disagree with their approach in a few ways. For the text portions of your description, they allow choices in colors and sizes of fonts, but no choice of font face (e.g. Arial). They do image hosting, but the auction item gets an image that says "Click here to view this item" - why not a picture of the item itself?

MyItem provides a counter, but it's a smiley-face image; you don't get to choose the image, and you have to visit the MyItem page to see the count. I also had trouble setting up an account (do they have trouble with "dot-org" email addresses?), and got little assistance from their Technical Support. They do provide minimal layout assistance and minimal help with eBay's listing form, but all in all, their methods did not sit well with me.

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ONESTEP LISTER (http://www.honesty.com )
Free

Honesty (what a great name - why didn't I think of that one?) is a Web site best known for image hosting and hit counters, but they also offer Onestep Lister to help you post items. Frankly, I think their home page is just a bit overwhelming, but I eventually found their "walk-through" page, and easily added counters and images to my existing auctions, then moved on to creating auctions. This was not much different from just using eBay's form, but as you'd expect, Honesty's handling of counters and images is quite good.

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THE FORM (http://fanciful.hypermart.net)
Free

I can hear you asking now: "What's this? Just a form?" Yes, but sometimes that's all you need! This Web site does one thing quite well: It helps you lay out your text and pictures, and hands you the HTML to put in your auction's description. It sometimes offers more choices than you thought you might need, but there are several examples to help you. It doesn't offer image hosting, but it does provide links to sites that do, and it
does offer counters. And you can't beat the price!

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TABLE: ONLINE AUCTION SOFTWARE PROGRAMS & FEATURES
NOTE: Go to
http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/Email_Graphics/email_g raphics.html on the AuctionBytes.com Web site where the table is formatted!

Key to features follows the table.

AuctionAssistant
Price: $59.95 (free 90-day trial)
Graphical Layout: Yes
eBay form: Yes
FTP Images: Yes
Add Counter: Yes
Multiple Auctions: Yes
Item Database: Yes
Batch Feedback: Yes

AuctionPoster98
Price: Pay-As-You Go Pricing
Graphical Layout: Yes
eBay form: Yes
FTP Images: Yes
Add Counter: Yes
Multiple Auctions: No
Item Database: No
Batch Feedback: No

MyItem
Price: Free
Graphical Layout: Yes
eBay form: Yes
FTP Images: Yes
Add Counter: Yes
Multiple Auctions: No
Item Database: Yes
Batch Feedback: No

Onestep
Price: Free
Graphical Layout: No
eBay form: Yes
FTP Images: Yes
Add Counter: Yes
Multiple Auctions: No
Item Database: No
Batch Feedback: No

The Form
Price: Free
Graphical Layout: Yes
eBay form: No
FTP Images: No
Add Counter: Yes
Multiple Auctions: No
Item Database: No
Batch Feedback: No

KEY TO FEATURES
Graphical Layout: Does the software help you design your auction's appearance?
eBay Form: Does it automatically fill out eBay's "Sell Your Item" form?
FTP Images: Does it automatically transfer images from your computer to an
image-hosting sites?
Add Counter: Does it automatically add a hit-counter to your item?
Multiple Auctions: Can it post multiple items in a single step?
Item Database: Does it keep track of items you've posted?
Batch Feedback: Does it help you post feedback to eBay?

OTHER SOFTWARE
There are a couple of products worth mentioning that didn't really "fit" in the table:

AUCTION BROWSER (http://www.auction-browser.com )
$19.95, Free 30-day demo

An extended Web browser with auction-specific features, plus a Tracker to let you know of soon-to-end auctions, and an Archive to let you keep a record of completed auctions. Primarily for buyers, but could be useful for sellers, too.

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ICEWIZARD (http://www.eldonsplace.com/icewiz.htm)
Free

This is a simple program which does one thing, and does it well: it puts your item description in a table, using fonts and colors of your choosing. It also remembers various default items (payment and postage terms), so you can avoid needless cut-and-pasting. Simple and good!

RECOMMENDATIONS
If you're looking for a single program to help you from the start of your auction to the end, AuctionAssistant is the obvious choice. If you need a medium amount of layout assistance, plus some relief from filling out eBay's "Sell Your Item" form, AuctionPoster98 is a solid product with a flexible price. If you just need a bit of HTML help, plus image hosting and hit counters, Honesty's Onestep Lister is ideal for you.

Each of these programs provides a different level of support; all you have to do is decide which one fits your style and needs. Once you've found the right match, the assistance these programs provide can be a real time-saver, even if you are an experienced online auction user.

Wilson H. Bent, Jr., (Win) is Collector's Corner Editor - Comics for AuctionBytes.com. Win (eBay: whbjr) learned to read from Superman comics, and has been collecting off and on ever since. Raised in Ohio, he lived in Boston, New Jersey and California before settling in Austin, Texas. Email Win at collector@haus.org .

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6) AUCTION TEMPLATES AVAILABLE ON AUCTIONBYTES.COM
Jazz up your auctions with free auction templates. Go to http://www.auctionbytes.com/Yellow_Pages/Template/template.html .  Click on one of the templates and you'll get the HTML code for that template. Follow the instructions included and you'll have snappier-looking auctions in no time! (Questions or suggestions? Email dsteiner@auctionbytes.com.)

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7) COLLECTOR'S CORNER
Visit the Collector's Corner section of the Web site for current and past articles along with reference sources, links and message boards! We will have more contributions from our other Collector's Corner Editors in the next issue!

COLLECTOR'S CORNER - COMICS: What Comics Will Sell Well?
Win Bent, Comics Editor

You may have a general idea of what your comics are worth, but that's not the same as knowing which ones are likely to sell! There are tens of thousands of comic-book auctions, selling all types of comics. Which are the most popular types?

Sure-fire winners are virtually anything over 30 years old: The DC and Marvel superheroes of the 1960s, crime and horror comics of the 1950s, westerns and funny-animal comics of the late 1940s, and superhero comics during World War II are all popular. Newer comics, in particular anything published in the 1990s, were all published in large quantities, so they're easy to find in good condition. High supply means low demand, resulting in low prices.

As always, use eBay's "Completed Auctions" function, located at the bottom of the main search page - this is a valuable research tool!

Collector's Corner Editor Win Bent (ebay:whbjr) learned to read from Superman comics, and has been collecting off and on ever since. Raised in Ohio, he lived in Boston, New Jersey and California before settling in Austin, Texas. Email Win at collector@haus.org.

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COLLECTOR'S CORNER - TOYS, GAMES & DOLLS: Toy Exclusives
Ray Tipton, Toys Editor

One controversial aspect of toy collecting is toy exclusives. Toy manufacturers often make special deals to sell a certain toy or line of toys exclusively to one retailer. Many major toy retailers such as Toys R Us, Target, KB Toys, FAO Schwartz and Wal-Mart participate in these exclusive deals. Because these stores get a limited supply, and because many people living in rural communities simply do not have access to some of these stores, there is often a flurry of activity on online auctions for these toy exclusives.

The coming of the online auction industry greatly improves the odds of die hard collectors obtaining some of the hardest to get toy exclusives. Even toys that are sold only in one country can now easily be obtained - for the right price.

The monthly magazines Lee's Action Figure News and Toy Review and Tomart's Action Figure Digest are excellent tools to find out where and when certain toy exclusives will be shipping. (Always be as informed as possible before jumping into a deal that you might later regret.)

Collector's Corner Editor Ray Tipton (Comic Ray) is a long time collector of toys and comics. He recently sold his comic book shop and is now a reporter for Figures.com, a Web site for toy enthusisasts. Email Ray at comicray@web-access.net.

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COLLECTOR'S CORNER - STAMPS: A Legacy of Collecting
John Kirsner, Stamps Editor

My grandfather just passed away. He wasn't a collector, but strongly encouraged my father, brother and me to become interested in collecting. As a result, my dad collects books, my brother collects political memorabilia, and I collect stamps, pulps and comics.

You do not need to fully understand a particular area of collecting in order to appreciate it, or encourage your family to collect. My grandfather spent many hours with us reviewing our collections.

Take time out to encourage the younger generation in their collecting endeavors. Get interested in their collections, whether it be stamps or Pokemon, and you will assist a younger person in developing their own interests as well as finding out the enjoyment of collecting as a pastime.

In coming articles, I will discuss auction strategy, grading, Web alternatives to eBay, payment issues, and more. Finally, one of the best ways to get involved in stamps is by joining the American Philatelic Society (~~~~http://www.west.net/~stamps1/aps.html), which publishes a wonderful monthly magazine.

Collector's Corner Editor John Kirsner has been collecting stamps since he was 5 years old. He still has his Minuteman Stamp album with his name on the inside front cover in crayon. John (eBay: JKLAW) lives in Columbus, Ohio, is married to Lisa, and works as a healthcare attorney.

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ADVERTISEMENT -- Your ad could appear here!!
Limited space available in AuctionBytes-Update newsletter. Our rates are low now as we build circulation - take advantage. We'll treat our early advertisers right in the future for helping us in this early stage. Please email adverts@auctionbytes.com for more information.
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FEEDBACK: What topics would YOU like to see covered? What questions do you have about online auctions, small-business issues, collectibles, etc.? Write to ina@auctionbytes.com

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8) ARTICLE: REVISING YOUR AUCTION DESCRIPTION

Made a Mistake on Your Auction Description? Don't forget it...FIX it!

Have you ever found yourself in this position: You've put up an auction, and unintentionally left out some important information? You've already received bids on your item, so you're unable to use the "revise" feature provided by the auction service. What do you do so potential bidders know all the facts about your item?

Well, you could leave the auction as it is, and hope that enough people will understand what they are buying (or hope they email you for the information that you've left out) and give you a fair price. You could end the auction -- a big no-no much frowned upon in the online auction world that aggravates the people who have already bid on the item. Or, you could try adding text to your image link. Here's how you do it.

Assuming that you've added an image to your auction, find the linked image on your hard drive. Open it in a paint program. (PhotoShop is ideal, not only because of the great image compression it has, but also because of the wide variety of tools that allow you to manipulate the image.) Once you've called up the image, you can either add text over the image or resize it to allow you to add text at the bottom.

My preference is to open a new file, then open the file that contains the image of your auction item. Cut and paste the picture of your auction item into the new file, then resize it to about 80% of its original size. Most software programs allow this, and by holding the shift key down while you are resizing the image, you maintain the proportions of your original file. This will leave you enough room at the bottom to add the necessary text. When you have finished, save your updated file by overwriting your original file.

It's important that you not change the name of your new file. It must be the same name as the image that is attached to your auction. There are HTML tags pointing to a specific file name, and if you change the name of your image, those tags won't know where to find it. If you're nervous about overwriting your old file, simply rename the original file first, and then give your updated image the original file name.

Upload your revised image to your server, making sure you overwrite the file that's already on your server. When you go back to check your auction, the image will have all the new information that you've added. Most people who have already viewed your auction will notice that there has been a modification, so be up front about it. This method should ONLY be used to fully disclose important information about your item. It may not be an ideal solution, but given the alternatives, it could save your auction from being a disaster.

NOTE: Be sure and research an item thoroughly before posting it online. Use the auction site's "preview" feature to make sure the auction is correct before posting. Use this revision feature with caution - use only when absolutely necessary in order to give bidders important information you've left out!

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CONTACT INFORMATION
Editorial: ina@auctionbytes.com
Advertising: advert@auctionbytes.com or 508-655-5697
Letters, Comments, Suggestions: feedback@auctionbytes.com
Want to Write for AuctionBytes-Update or AuctionBytes.com? Go to http://www.auctionbytes.com and click on "write for us" to view author guidelines. If you are interested, send email to ina@bibliodata.com.

Ina Steiner, Editor, Publisher and Co-founder:
ina@auctionbytes.com
David Steiner, Webmaster, Technical Editor, President and Co-founder:
dsteiner@auctionbytes.com
AuctionBytes
c/o Steiner Associates
PO Box 668
Natick, MA 01760
508-655-5697
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